Bachmann praises latest Medicaid probe

A recent decision by the Inspector General office at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to audit the Medicaid rates paid to non-profit health plans in Minnesota came in for praise Tuesday by two prominent conservative Republicans in the state. U.S. Rep. Michele Bachmann and state Sen. Sean Nienow, who once worked for her, issued a statement welcoming the new investigation, which follows similar probes by congressional investigators and other federal officials. "Taxpayers have been paying huge sums of money to health plans without ever getting an itemized list of what the money was for," said Bachmann. "It is time that we find out, once and for all, why the health plans have been amassing huge reserves, and at the same time, increasing the rates they charge for paying Medicaid claims."